


Evolution

by dracox_serdriel



Series: Another Chance at the Brass Ring, or Season 9 Fan Fiction [24]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: A Normal Life, Alternate Season/Series 09, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angels, Angels are Dicks, Archangels, Betrayal, Cambion, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Demons, Destiel - Freeform, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/M, Gates of Hell, Gen, Hell, Hope, Innuendo, Leviathans, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-09
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:30:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracox_serdriel/pseuds/dracox_serdriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Therion and Lucifer are driving into full war and taking the whole world with them. The Winchesters must find a way to stem the tide before the planet burns in their wake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unforgiven & Unforeseen

**Elk Creek, Nebraska**. The smoke carried the scent of sandalwood for miles, and the ash caked the ground where once a family lived. Sandalwood had long been considered a sacred incense; something set apart from everything else.

In the traditions of some cultures, the possessions of the deceased could hold a part of them, a sliver of their life force. Items that were old, well loved, or held in high regard were especially prone to containing shards of someone's soul. Jesse refused to let any part of his parents become stuck on this earth, so he lined their house and possessions with sandalwood and burned everything. 

To Jesse, the ceremony started under the stars and lasted through the dawn and the dusk to the next night's sky. But that time was his perception, a byproduct of his mourning. To everyone else, it was as if a comet landed on the homestead of the Turner Family. Anything that could burn became ash, and everything else ground into a fine powder. At the very center, a grave for Clayton and Jill Turner, beloved parents. 

_I need to stop this. All this pain and blood and loss. I need to stop this._

It was like the levee broke. The murmur became stronger, like a recurring thought or a song that keeps running in the undercurrents of the mind. Jesse discovered he didn't mind it racing along with his normal thoughts.

_Everything that happened was because of Therion and her monsters and Lucifer and his demons. Gabriel always said I had the power to wipe out the Heavenly Host. So why not all the monsters? Why not all the demons?_

 

**Somewhere in Tennessee**. Sam Winchester did another sweep over the Impala, trying to piece together what happened after the big hound thing blindsided him. Dean got behind the wheel, then something knocked him out. And the Turners were in the backseat. The amount of blood suggested that something killed both of them. 

His stomach wrenched at the thought. They failed. They said they'd look after Jesse's parents, and now they couldn't even tell him what happened. 

Sam spotted it out of the corner of his eye. He did everything he could to act natural, like he hadn't noticed. He slid his hand over the demon knife, and in one quick motion he impaled the creepy crawly near the rear tire. It was a conworm. 

"What the hell?" Sam said out loud. 

He turned back to Dean, who still had his eyes closed. Sam wondered if Dean knew how long he'd been sitting there.

Dean didn't know that he'd been reaching out to Castiel for nearly ten minutes. It felt like just a few heartbeats to him. "Cas," Dean thought. "Cas, I'm here. I'm listening." And he waited.

"Dean, they set a trap. I'm trying to get to you, but I can't. I landed about half a mile from you. I'll be there soon. Can you hear me? Dean?"

"Yeah, I can hear you, you bastard," Dean said out loud. 

"Dean, you okay?" Sam called from the car.

"Cas is coming, Sammy!" Dean replied. "Cas is on his way."

 

**Denali, Alaska**. Therion stared out over the mountains. She marshaled her forces around the mountain of Denali. It had a grandness to it that only natural formation could provide, and now her legions filled out the land around her. 

Never before had monsters united with Leviathan and hybrids. Oh, Eve had raised quite a fuss when Crowley was scorching the world for Purgatory, but the mother of all monsters created new offspring with a touch. Therion didn't have that luxury. She had to convince the part-demon shifters and demonically imbued djinn to cooperate with one another. Quite an achievement by any means, let alone with the likes of Lucifer and Paimon opposing her. 

Legions of vampires, skinwalkers, okamis, werewolves, kitsunes, arachnes, kelpies, shifters, wraiths, and vetala stood in formation. Dozens of Leviathan, rakshasas, lamia, rugarus, and sirens joined her ranks. And then there were the specialists: the conworms and the dragons.

But in spite of her achievement, there remained only one cambion on earth, and he was more dangerous than most of her army. Kull and his special Leviathan troops might be able to take Jesse Turner down, but a cambion in grief would be unpredictable. Therion had thousands of warriors, yet her only recourse was the one order she hated giving.

"Go to ground," she said. "And wait for my command."

The most fearsome army of monsters the world will ever know, and today, their orders were to run and hide.

 

**Hyder, Arizona**. Paimon knelt before Lucifer, the leader of Hell, the first fallen, and the most powerful.

"I see that the cambion has finally come into his own," Lucifer said. "And I have you to thank for it."

"As you ordered," Paimon replied.

It wasn't an act of humility. Paimon was plainly honest in these matters, as anything else would wind up killing him. 

"You doubt me."

"I am concerned about the unpredictability of humanity," Paimon replied. 

"You think that's different from doubting me?" Lucifer asked. 

"I don't doubt you," Paimon said calmly. "But the cambion is part-human. And humanity... corrupts. That was ultimately the undoing of Crowley."

Lucifer seemed appeased by this answer. "Crowley's fate was sealed when he betrayed me. Be sure you don't make the same mistake."

Paimon didn't move. He waited for the fire to pass from Lucifer's eyes. Paimon had defeated Abaddon and Valefar and dozens of other demons of tremendous power; a kingship in Hell wasn't won with tea and biscuits, after all. But Lucifer could eviscerate him if he thought Paimon was slipping away. 

"We should prepare for Jesse Turner," Lucifer said smugly. "We'll need to have an appropriate welcome."

 

Jesse opened his eyes. His work was done; he did what a good son should do. And yet he felt oddly empty, unfulfilled. He was alone.

_I have the power to stop it all. They gave me enough power to destroy everything, thinking that they could destroy me. The Winchesters tried and failed because they're just men. But I'm not a man. I was never a man, and I will never be a man._

"You wanted a weapon," Jesse whispered. "I guess you've got one."


	2. Too Long Ago

Blaze waited for commands, as she always did. She didn't worry about the new level of tension, the additional bureaucracy, or the sudden disappearance of several key members of their coven, including Eric. Paimon's assurances might not be more than bald placations for most, but in her case, they were golden.

Paimon arrived suddenly at her side. "You remember that special errand I asked you to prepare?" he asked.

Blaze nodded. "To pave the way, you mean?"

"Yes. Send Caleb," Paimon ordered. 

"Is it Therion?" Blaze asked.

"No, this is Lucifer's order," Paimon replied. 

"May I ask... what is Therion?" she asked. "If I'm allowed to know."

Paimon considered her for a moment. Blaze was his favorite pet, not to mention a useful asset, and he planned on keeping her for a long time. So he decided to answer her. 

"A very long time, too long ago, Therion was born. She's a mutant, a mutt, and we declared her an outcast, a beast of burden. This was when the Knights of Hell freely roamed the Earth, and I traversed the stars with a thought. Between now and then, others have turned to her. The monsters, the Children of Eve, gathered apart from Hell. And now they're grafting to her. That's what Therion is. A magnet for scum. Unfortunately, she's managed a powerful alliance and that's what makes her trouble."

"So she wants another chance at the brass ring," Blaze muttered to herself. "And we need to destroy her."

Paimon smiled. "After you send Caleb, I have a special reserve mission for you."

 

Castiel returned to the Bunker worse for the ware. 

"What happened?" Dean asked. 

"The trap that they set was feeble," Cas replied. "Just three demons."

"You've got something," Sam said, indicating a bloody mass over Castiel's ear. 

Cas sloughed it off. "Guts, apparently," he said calmly. "The car is in a garage in South Dakota. It's fine." 

"She, not it. And, thanks," Dean said. 

"And Kevin?" Sam asked.

"With his mother and several others," Castiel replied. "An angel is watching over them."

"Cas, angels are dicks, how – " Dean began.

"A new angel," Cas said. "From a human soul."

"That's really happening?" Sam asked. "Like, really, really happening? People can become angels in Heaven?"

Cas nodded slowly. "His name is Harvelle."

Dean and Sam straightened up. "Harvelle?" Sam repeated. "He's the one who helped me and Dodge – "

"He was Ellen's husband. Jo's father," Cas said solemnly. "And now he walks the earth as an angel."

Dean asked, "Does that mean that Ellen and Jo...?"

"I don't know if they will become angels, or if they are. I'm not in Heaven, I don't know anymore than you do," Cas replied. "And we've more pressing matters at hand."

"Yes, we need to find Jesse," Sam said. "He needs to know what we found."

"Sam, what're we even gonna say? We promised to protect his family, to look out for them, and instead we got conworms crawling out of them and their blood all over our back seat."

"Well we got to try, Dean!" Sam yelled back. "So we need a plan. Step one, find him. Step two, get him to go back with Gabriel and – "

"What?" Dean interrupted. "Hell no. Screw your step two."

"Okay, fine. What do you suggest?"

"Find him and help him take those bastards down!"

"He was trying to get out, Dean. We need to help him do that," Sam said.

"Tried. But they yanked him back in. Just like they did with us, Sammy."

"It doesn't have to be like that," Sam said.

 

 **Elk Creek, Nebraska**. Gabriel finally touched down at what once was the Turner Residence. He should've come here first, as soon as he was freed, but instead he searched the house and the garden. Something kept him away from this very spot, and he feared that something was Jesse Turner himself. A cambion had the power to cloak himself from everything in creation, including archangels. And if he was cloaking, then he could be using any of his abilities.

The archangel straightened up. There was still time. Time to stop him, time to save him, and he wasn't going to give up. Gabriel just needed to figure what Jesse would do next.

The neighbors... they were spies for Therion and Lucifer alike. That's where Jesse would start.

 

"You don't get it! I found a conworm," Sam said. "But we don't know what happened. We don't know where their bodies are, but what if he goes after Lucifer instead of Therion? What if he goes after the wrong one?"

"The wrong one?" Dean asked. "They're both evil douchebags who're trying to destroy humanity. There is no wrong one!"

"The only reason they were in danger - the reason they were attacked - was to make Jesse Turner go after someone," Sam said, trying to keep his voice even. "If we let him of off and slaughter Lucifer, then Therion will get what she wants. There will be no one to keep her in check. For all we know, she's just waiting to make her move."

"That's why he needs our help," Dean replied. "Sam, he takes down Lucifer with our help, fine. Then together we take down Therion. He doesn't have to do it alone. Both of them. Gone. Over. Done."

"You are missing the gravity of this situation," Castiel pointed out. 

"Full-power grief-driven half-demon ready to take out Satan and a giant spider demon to save the world," Dean said sarcastically. "Nope, pretty much nailed the gravity, Cas."

"Right now, if they went to war, Therion and Lucifer could destroy the Western Hemisphere," Cas said. "But Jesse Turner annihilating their forces? That can make the world burn. Worse than Michael and Lucifer's battle. Ten times worse."

 

Gabriel found Lockhart, skinwalker pretending to be the family dog, very near death just a mile from the Turner's. His human form had been impaled and left for dead. That was a good sign. If Jesse didn't kill him, maybe he couldn't bring himself to do it at all.

"Who did this?" Gabriel asked.

"You already know," Lockhart said with a smile. "You tried to put that boy on a leash, angel, but he's ours. He's always been ours, and now he's free."

"Jesse Turner is man, a human being, and I never put him on a leash. You understand?" Gabriel said slowly. "Where is he?"

"On a mission." 

"If Jesse Turner did this to you, why aren't you dead?"

"So I could send a message...so I could tell Therion what was coming for her."

Gabriel obliterated Lockhart. He couldn't risk the skinwalker sending out anymore messages.

 

Dean gave a sarcastic huff of a laugh. "So, let me get this straight. If we let Therion and Lucifer fight, the world loses a hemisphere. If Jesse takes them down, we lose the planet."

"That's what I just said," Castiel replied crossly. 

"Cas, he means, what do we do?" Sam spoke up. "Are you suggesting that we kill both Lucifer and Therion before Jesse gets to them?"

"Exactly," Castiel said, completely serious.

"Sorry," Dean began. "How do we manage that? We can't even find either of them."

"I might be able to find Jesse," Sam said quietly.

"To what end?" Cas asked. "He's on a path right now – "

"I know that," Sam interrupted.

"And that path is consuming him!" Castiel continued.

"I know that!" Sam yelled. He lowered his voice. "I understand that better than any other human."

"Jesse Turner is not human," Cas pointed out. 

"I wasn't human," Sam said quietly. "Not since I was six months old."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Awesome, you two can get together and be all chummy about how much the world screwed you over."

"It's not even about that," Sam said. "Don't you get it? He made the right choice four years ago. And again a few months ago when he reached out for us for help. I can get through to him. That'll give us the time we need to..." Sam trailed off, as if suddenly realizing how the sentence would end.

"What?" Dean asked. "Stop two ginormous armies from immolating the world? Kill Satan and Therion? Make it home for dinner?"

"It's not funny, Dean," Sam replied.

"We're wasting time," Castiel said. "Sam, you can't find Jesse. The cambion is hidden from angels and demons alike."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm a Man of Letters," Sam replied. "Maybe you can't spot him, and Lucifer and Therion and whoever the hell else is out there, but I'm going to find him."

"How?" Dean asked. "It's not like we've got a cambion-finder handy. And, yeah, I checked through the book list thing just in case."

Sam shook his head. "You don't get it. Neither of you _gets_ it. This isn't just a cambion. This is Jesse, and he's half-human. You can't find a cambion, but you can find a person."

"You believe that will work?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah, I do. And I'm gonna need your help, Cas. In case he won't talk to me, I need to make some kind of message."

"Why not just record something?" Dean asked.

"Because it needs to be my thoughts, not my words," Sam replied.

"Okay, and meanwhile back in reality, I'm gonna figure out how to kill Therion and Lucifer," Dean said. Then he added to himself, "

 

Gabriel found the remains of Randy Ridgeway, a shifter. He had been tortured and then finally killed. Jesse had broken him apart telekinetically.

The archangel kept searching. Jesse could always turn back, could always seek redemption. Had Gabriel taken better care of him, this entire situation could've been avoided, and he wasn't going to fail this kid again. He wasn't. 

Bob Gilmer's place was torn apart. Sulfur was riddled throughout the house. Gabriel had to sift through broken bits of wood to find anything living.

"I knew someone would come looking," Bob said from under the wreckage. He was literally frozen in the rubble. 

"Who are you?" Gabriel asked. 

"Call me Riper," Bob-possessed-by-Riper replied. "You're too late. Our little cambion is all grown up and slaughtering like a big boy. He's ours now."

"People keep saying that," Gabriel replied. "But it's not true."

"Oh, but it is."

"Never mind that. Looks like Jesse tethered you here."

"He didn't want to exorcise me."

"You are going to tell me everything you know," Gabriel said. "You understand?"

"That boy is ten times any angel," Riper-Bob said. "You think you scare me?"

Gabriel smiled. "You might've met some of my brothers, or heard stories. But you see, none of them are like me. I spent thousands of years on Earth – "

"Ohhh, scary!" Riper-Bob mocked.

"As the Trickster," Gabriel completed. Riper-Bob jolted. Fear. At last he was getting there. "So like I said, you're gonna tell me _everything_."

 

The Bunker was unnaturally silent. Dean had spread books and inventory around him at one end of the war room, examining weapons and collecting notes on Therion. Sam had sequestered himself in his room.

Sam remained committed to the idea that he could entice Jesse to watch a message, and Castiel tried to help, but after the angel handed off the mental orb, Sam locked himself in his room and demanded complete privacy.

"Dean," Cas said. "Do you need any help?"

"I dunno," Dean said sarcastically. "What do you think?"

"I understand your frustration," Cas said. "But taking it out on me clearly isn't a remedy, otherwise your anger would have abated by now."

"Sorry, it's just..." Dean fumbled for the right words. "Sammy thinks he can fix things with words, and that's all Gandhi or whatever. But, human nature, Cas. How many times did people try to stop us? From going after yellow-eyes? Lilith? Hell, how many people tried to stop my dad from going after every evil sonovabitch out there? It didn't stop him or us. Certainly didn't stop Sam."

"You're hard on him for the choices he's made," Cas observed.

"Yeah, well, they were pretty bad."

"You're harder on him than you are on me," Cas said. "And my choices were far worse."

"That's not the same."

"You're right. Sam's human. You should be easier on _him_."

"Cas, we can't afford to have a fight right now, not with all this other crap – "

"I'm asking you to consider the possibility," Cas interrupted, "that Sam might be successful. With words. Because of who he is and what he's done. He's right. If anyone could succeed, it's him."

"You really think that Sam could convince Jesse not to avenge his own parents?" Dean asked. "Because there's nothing anyone coulda said to me – "

"We're not talking about you," Cas interrupted. 

Then Castiel did something Dean did quite frequently. He abruptly changed the subject. "What have you discovered about Therion?" he asked.

"Uh, well," Dean began. "She's just a demonic horse, basically. Nothing special about her... even the Men of Letters didn't know that she was part-monster or whatever."

"She wasn't banished into Hell with the rest of the demons," Castiel observed. "So being a hybrid protected her. I imagined the same could be said for Purgatory. Technically, she doesn't belong in either place."

"That's not all. As a demonic chariot puller, or whatever, she can... and I quote, 'Traverse the spaces between planes.' It gets better. 'She has knowledge of all the planes, and every entry and exit everywhere. She alone holds this ancient knowledge. None may trap her.' That's my favorite part: 'None may trap her.'"

"But we can kill her," Castiel pointed out. "The Men of Letters would have put Therion in the same category as Paimon and Abaddon."

"Sorry, isn't that category ridiculously powerful and un-killable?" Dean asked. 

Cas shrugged. "Archangels can kill them. But hunters would need to trap them," Cas replied. "But she can be killed. Just not with normal weapons."

"You think we can snuff her with the Colt?" Dean asked hopefully.

"An angel blade is the only certainty," Castiel replied.

"Awesome," Dean said, tired and frustrated. 

The angel put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "Dean," he whispered. "With everything ahead of us, at least until Sam's done, there's nothing for us to do."

"We could keep reading," Dean replied.

"I'd rather not," Cas said. 

Dean met Castiel's eyes. "Well, me either."

"Dean," Cas said with a dash of exasperation. "You have spent years trying to teach me innuendo. I thought I was getting better at it."

Dean cracked a smile. "Hell yeah you are."

 

Carnage would be a euphemism for the destruction Gabriel found. Between Riper and the other demons he met, the archangel was finally able to get close enough to pick up a traceable element from Jesse.

The first three demonic hideouts Jesse hit, he simply froze the demons to lock them down. Gabriel disposed of them after his extracted the information he needed; otherwise, those demons would've been frozen in place forever. 

Now that he could trace Jesse's movements, though, he found more than just demons. The remains of shifters and skinwalkers were scattered across four states. Jesse wasn't just looking for Therion now; he was decimating her forces. 

"Come on, kid," Gabriel whispered. "Don't do this..."


	3. Phantasmagoria

Sam left the Bunker without Dean and Castiel. He knew they didn't understand, and they both sounded unduly occupied as he passed their room. He drove about five miles out to an empty field with good tree cover. ll he needed was an open space to cast his spell. 

Cas was right. A cambion could hide from pretty much everything. Sam could locate Jesse's human half with a basic burning map, but a cambion could move with a single thought, so Sam couldn't rely on catching up with him. So he resorted to a summoning spell. Actually, it was more like a supernatural phone call, since he couldn't summon half of Jesse. 

He lit the match and threw it down. 

"Jesse," Sam said into the flame. "It's Sam Winchester. I'm alone. I'm not sure if you can hear me, but if you can... I'd like to talk."

Silence. If the spell worked, the Jesse's voice should move through the flame, but there was nothing.

 

Gabriel thought he was getting closer, but every extinguished nest and every slaughtered demon hideout made him feel further away. He found himself on a coastal shore in Maine with dozens of demons, all of them obliterated.

"Hello, brother," a familiar voice said. 

Gabriel turned to see Lucifer standing above the bodies, a wry smile on his face.

 

Sam's head dropped in defeat. There was nothing, not even a flicker. The fire had stopped moving, like it was frozen in time. 

"Sam?" Jesse said. 

Sam turned around, surprised. Jesse looked so normal, like the kid they'd helped out a few months ago. 

"Jesse," Sam said. "I'm – "

"It wasn't your fault," Jesse cut him off. "You and Dean. I already know that."

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"No," Jesse replied. "You and your brother have lost enough."

"I've been where you are, Jesse. I've had to make the choices that you're making, and... I wanted someone to talk to, but everyone around me either wouldn't talk about it or was just trying to manipulate me to making the choice they wanted. Jesse, I've been through this. You can ask me anything." 

"I know that," Jesse said. "But you're wrong. We're not alike. You were born human, Sam Winchester. No matter what anyone ever did to you, no matter how much they did to you, you were born human. I wasn't. I was born cambion, and nothing anyone can do will ever change that."

"It's not like that," Sam began.

"But it is," Jesse replied. "It is like that."

"What are you planning to do?" Sam asked.

"Cut off the head and the body will flounder," Jesse said. "Eliminating Therion and Lucifer will cause a power vacuum. They'll be forced to fall back. Then they'll be consumed by in fighting for decades."

"Cas says that fight will scorch the whole of the earth," Sam said. 

"He's wrong," Jesse replied. "This won't be a fight. I know what you want to say, Sam. I could feel it when you called me. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to convince you that I understand what you mean, that I know what I am doing. I need to go."

"Wait, Jesse, take this," Sam said, holding out the mental orb. "It's kind of like a recording, but more. Castiel called it a mental imprint. It, well, uh - "

Jesse took it and interrupted, "Thank you, Sam Winchester."

Then he vanished.

 

Lucifer had longed for a fight with someone worthwhile, but he assumed the only one stupid enough not to flee from his presence would be Castiel. He thrust a blade at Gabriel, who parried and stepped to the side, forcing his hilt up and taking Lucifer's with it. 

The elder archangel regained control quickly, bringing his blade back down to Gabriel's neck. His brother seemed oddly calm, as if his life wasn't about to end. Again.

"I'm only here for Jesse," Gabriel said. "Not for you."

"Sorry, Jesse's not here. And if he was, he wouldn't be going anywhere with you. He's one of my children, Gabriel. He doesn't belong to you."

"He's a human being, and he doesn't belong to anyone," Gabriel replied. 

"That's where you're wrong," Lucifer replied. "Human beings have families. And he's part of mine."

Lucifer jabbed forward, but Gabriel merely knocked the blade aside and dropped the hilt of his own weapon into the elder archangel's stomach. The way he fought was so _effortless_ , like the way Raphael used to fight. 

"I'm not here for you," Gabriel said. "Where is Jesse?"

Catching his breath, Lucifer spoke up, "Such bravado from you, little brother. Can I assume this is just some trick? Your real form is somewhere behind me, like it always is?"

"No trick," Gabriel replied quietly. "This is me. I'm looking for Jesse Turner."

"If that's true, you could just kill me," Lucifer pointed out. "Come on, little brother. You tried to before."

"I defended humanity from you before," Gabriel said. "I don't need to kill you to save Jesse."

Again, Lucifer moved forward, slashing down and slicing through part of Gabriel's arm. The younger archangel followed the movement, landing a shallow slash across Lucifer's chest and throwing him to the ground. Gabriel held the point at his brother's neck.

"You can't do it, can you?" Lucifer taunted. 

"Oh, I can," Gabriel said, raising his blade. "Except I'm only here for the kid. But make no mistake, brother. I might've once been a trickster and kept on the sidelines too long, but I'm in this for Jesse Turner, which means if you attack him, I will kill you. Maybe I should kill you for what you did to him, but I won't. I don't need to. I'm not afraid of you anymore, Lucifer."

Gabriel disappeared, leaving his brother injured on the ground.

 

Jesse had observed the two archangels. He froze when he saw that Gabriel was still alive. He assumed that his guardian had been killed. 

Why didn't he dispatch Lucifer? It was clear that the once-powerful archangel couldn't compare to his younger brother. Certainly killing Satan would be beneficial to all of humanity, not just Jesse. Yet Gabriel let Lucifer go with little more than a scratch. 

_I don't need to. I'm not afraid of you anymore, Lucifer._ That's what Gabriel had said. He was unafraid. 

Jesse could've snuffed Lucifer's candle with hardly any effort, but something held him back. The orb Sam Winchester gave him glowed hot in his pocket. Then he felt it: another presence. Dark, powerful. Someone else was watching the archangels fight, and he was close. 

_His name is Paimon. He is one of Lucifer's servants. I should eliminate them both while I have the chance._

The thoughts were loud in his head, but the orb called him, drew him away. Now that he saw Lucifer's vessel, he could find him again anywhere. 

He vanished.

 

_After the yellow-eyed demon murdered my mother, my family became hunters. I didn't have a choice. Then the yellow-eyed demon killed Jess, and all I wanted was to set it right. To get justice. To fix everything. But I couldn't. The more I tried, the further I got from who I was, who I always wanted to be. I wanted to save my brother. I failed. I wanted to revenge my mother, my father, my girlfriend. I thought I could do all that and save the world._

Images of Jessica Moore, Mary Winchester, and John Winchester filled Jesse's mind. The taste of blood, the sensation of fire, the sounds of screaming voices, but all from an infant's memory. Flashes of little things. Days with Dean caring for him. Moments when Jessica. Time spent with books and paper and writing. 

Then hunting eclipsed everything. Rage and blood and tears. Broken bones, chattering teeth, the teeming entrapment of possession. Every moment of Sam Winchester's time on the road buckled up into a few seconds. It was painfully beautiful in its own way, the story of a madman with the soul of a musician. Blood started to fill up the world. Blood from black smoke. Blood with incredible power. 

_I thought I could save everyone. Mostly I thought I could save me. So I drank demon blood. I knew it was wrong. I knew it. Even my bones could feel it, but it made me strong. It made it so I could fight back, and I was all alone. Dean was dead and in Hell, and all I could do was survive and kill every black-eyed bastard I met. I drank demon blood so I could take out Lilith. And then Dean came back._

Angels appeared all around, and Dean's newly-raised body unclouded Sam's blood-soaked existence, like a breeze blowing out smog. But the blood and the black smoke were still there, like they were burned into his flesh, and they made him powerful and dangerous. He could save the world.

_But I thought it was me. I thought I had to be the one to do it, that I was the only one who could. So I kept on, and I took down Lilith, but it was for a price._

Lucifer rose up in a blinding light. The four horsemen, the world on fire from the Apocalypse. This was the price of Sam Winchester's well-meant revenge. He meant to save the world, and in so doing, he nearly destroyed it. Then Jesse felt it as Sam accepted Lucifer, as he fought the archangel, as he jumped into the pit – 

_I made the wrong choice. Eventually I came around to the right one, but by then, so many people had died. So many people. And what it took to fix those errors..._

Sam spared Jesse the memories of the pit, but Jesse could feel the fear, the agony, the psychic pain from the cage.

_This is all I wanted._

Sam's imagination was simplistic and linear. He would become a lawyer, settle down with Jessica, and have children. He would protect them from any threat, supernatural or otherwise. He would age, watch his children grow up, and move on. Grandchildren. Great grandchildren, even. All the while, Dean would visit and tell wonderful stories about "hunting trips" he and their father went on. And Dean would have a family, too. The Winchesters would have their names on mailboxes for centuries across the state of Kansas. Nothing was idyllic. Bills and squabbles and the occasional stubbed toe. Sam hadn't wanted a perfect life; he wanted a normal life. 

_And one day, I keep holding out the hope that'll be me. I'll find someone who'll love me. Someone to have children with. We'll grow old together with visits from Dean and Castiel. Maybe we'll even have a mailbox. A real address._

Jesse could feel the resilience of Sam Winchester's hope. It was an overwhelming experience, like confronting one's own mortality, and it shattered Jesse's perception of himself. To stand in hope while living in the darkness of the Apocalypse was courageous, but to hold on to hope, to cling to it, when one had lived a life with as much damnation as Sam Winchester, was unfathomable. Literally unimaginable. The scars on his soul, the blood from the black smoke, the supernatural elements of the world wrapping him in a prison of bone and stone forever. But he still hoped that he could be free, still tried to save people's lives. 

If he were anyone or anything else, Sam Winchester's message would have driven them to the edge of his sanity, but as for Jesse Turner, it lifted the curtain and threw off the shadows.


	4. Clock

"The map I have isn't that detailed," Dean said into his phone. "Charlie, just, slow down and enunciate."

Dean leaned over his map of the United States. He'd marked four points that Charlie read out to him on the phone, but his handheld map didn't have exact longitude and latitude. So they were improvising. 

"Small words," Dean insisted. "General vicinity of... what city?"

"There isn't a city in the general vicinity," Charlie said. "Seriously? Where is Sam? I could just e-mail him a pinpoint map."

"Sam is out," Dean replied. 

"No, he's not," Sam chimed in as he entered the war room. 

"Hold on, Charlie," Dean said. He covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Did you reach Jesse?" Dean asked. 

Sam shook his head. "We spoke, but he wouldn't hear me out. He took my message, but I don't know if he'll listen to it. No idea if I got through to him at all."

 

 **Denali, Alaska**. Kull pushed his way past Therion's special guard, comprised almost exclusively of dragons. While Kull never particularly enjoyed Eve's mutant offspring, he had to admit that her dragons were highly valuable warriors. Not only were they difficult to injure and kill, but they were also crafty bastards. 

"I take it there's bad news," Therion observed from his entrance.

"Our little spy is finally dead," Kull replied. "But relayed one final message: Sam Winchester failed to stop the cambion."

"Then we need to get out of here," Therion said. 

"You go," Kull said. "Take your guard out, and I'll give the order to move."

"We should do this together," Therion objected. 

"I am one of the only things on this earth that a cambion isn't a match for," Kull replied. "If he catches up with us, he needs to meet me first. Now, go."

Therion smiled widely as she signaled her dragon guard to carry her out.

 

"Charlie? Sorry. Sam just got back in. See if the two nerds can make things work," Dean said before he passed off the phone.

"The term nerd isn't right. Awesome is more like it," Charlie said as Sam put his ear to the phone.

"Hey, Charlie, it's Sam."

"Sam! Great, I've got something. Not sure what. But it reminded me of something in one of the Supernatural books. Can't remember which one, though, and at first I was ready to read through them all again, but then I thought. Hey, I know those dudes. Maybe I should run it by them."

"Okay, you sent the e-mail yet?" Sam asked.

"Sure did. Titled Pin Push," she replied. "Thought it was a strong code name."

"Code Pin Push, nice," Sam said as he opened the file attached to the e-mail. "How did this remind you of those damn books again?"

"Something about the five points. They were a pattern or a shape or something. Made of iron."

Sam didn't need the file to finish loading. He asked, "Five points? Shaped like a Devil's Trap?"

"Holy crap," Charlie replied. "Yeah."

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

"Charlie, why are you asking about this?" Sam asked. 

"There were, you know, things happening," Charlie hedged. "Nothing to worry about. You know?"

"Charlie," Sam said. "What?"

"Just, you know, omens."

"Omens?" Sam repeated.

"Omens?" Dean echoed. "That can't be good."

"Specifics, Charlie. Come on!"

"Odd weather patterns. Flocks of dead birds. Forest fires. Electrical failures with no know cause – legit unknown cause, because I checked... you know, the usual."

"So these points have been lit up with omens?" Sam asked. 

"Pretty much," Charlie replied. "Crap, now I remember what that book was about."

"The Devil's Gate in Wyoming," Sam said. 

"That's good," Dean said. 

"What?" 

"Well, that Devil's Gate needs a key, and we've got it packed away," Dean said simply. "So let'em go after that one."

"Dean," Sam began as patiently as possible, "Samuel Colt made a door to lock that Devil's Gate _to keep demons out_. But now we've got monster-demon mutts who Colt didn't account for, not to mention at least one jerk of a Leviathan. We can't count on that door staying shut."

"That sounds bad," Charlie said. 

"Damnit!" Dean muttered as he left the room.

"Sam?" Charlie asked. 

"Sorry, yeah, Charlie. It's bad, but Dean and I are on it."

"Okay, where are we meeting?" 

"Actually, Charlie, we need someone to coordinate," Sam said. "Garth's with Kevin now, but we might need some backup on call."

"Hell no, you're not leaving me out!" Charlie protested.

"No, no, we're not," Sam said. "But we could run into anything. _Anything_. If we need some last minute knowledge, it could be the difference between life or death."

"You jerk, pulling a 'life or death' line on me," Charlie replied fondly. "All right, but keep me in the loop, okay? And be safe. I'll be monitoring for other omens just in case the movement shifts somewhere else."

"Thanks, Charlie," Sam said as he hung up. "Dean!"

"What?" Dean said as he ducked back in. "I'm packing your truck."

"So we're going?" Sam asked.

"We can't just let them walk up and open the damn door, now can we? I locked the Colt up; we head out to Wyoming. Hopefully the giant Devil's Trap is still keeping the douchebags at bay, so we can set supernatural booby traps or something."

"When have we ever been that lucky?" Sam asked. "I know you're against it, but I think we need to get Castiel to zap us there."

"So we're just gonna popup in the middle of a graveyard?" Dean asked.

"No, but close."

 

Lucifer felt the cambion leave after Gabriel. He hadn't expected that. Jesse Turner's wrath was so pleasantly reassuring, just what Lucifer needed to wheedle into his life. Maybe he couldn't rely on his best weapon to wipe out all of Therion's forces, but he didn't need to. He had witches for fodder and plenty of demons yanked out of the pit. 

Unlike monsters, demons were strong. They didn't have their own corporeal bodies; they shed their meat suits and found new ones. Only a fair few had the ability to kill demons, like Leviathan, angels, or especially unfortunate cases like the Winchesters. And Lucifer knew that only a handful of Leviathan would bother with the likes of Therion. He still had the upper hand. 

Paimon appeared nearby. 

"You may approach," Lucifer said loudly. He loved the attitude of the older class of demons, all deference and obedience. 

"Therion's forces are moving again," Paimon said. "And the front guard is nearly done. We're infiltrating the area now."

"Excellent. Tell me, Paimon, " Lucifer began. "You set aside forces under the command of a witch, I believe."

Paimon didn't like it when Lucifer paid such close attention to the details. "Yes, sir, I did."

"To what end?"

"The witch is one of the few who has managed to keep the reapers leashed without incident. The others I set aside have exhibited a propensity for subtlety. I thought it prudent to set up an auxiliary guard against hunters."

"You're worried about the Winchesters?" Lucifer asked.

"I assume they'll be waist deep in blood and guts," Paimon replied patiently. "But there are other hunters, and I've never been fond of surprises."

"Very well, you can keep you private little army of ten," the archangel said. "Move the rest of the forces in."

 

 **Rawlins, Wyoming**. Castiel teleported them to a men's bathroom in a gas station. 

"Seriously?" Dean asked. "No one's here."

"That's the point," Sam said. "Come on."

He shouldered his duffel bag and led the way out. They landed near the middle of the town because it bordered the old cowboy graveyard. It seemed better than popping in. 

They walked to the cemetery, and the town was silent. 

"Something's very wrong," Castiel observed. "There were nearly ten thousand people in this town."

"Were?" Sam asked. 

"This place is empty," Dean added. "But it doesn't look like there was a fight. Or not much of one. Don't see any blood or bodies."

"No," Cas replied. "Sulfur is everywhere."

"So what? Everyone here was possessed?" Sam asked skeptically. "Come on, they couldn't have pulled that many demons through Purgatory."

"Possessed or turned," Castiel replied. "Yes, everyone. Look."

A child was standing sentry outside the cemetery. As soon as the Winchesters looked at her, she ran off into the graveyard. 

"Awesome," Dean commented. "Just... awesome."

"So, our plan remains the same?" Sam asked. "Get in, kill Satan and Therion and apparently this entire town and hope the world doesn't burn?"

"And live," Castiel added. 

"Right, wouldn't want to forget that," Dean said.

"It would certainly be preferable," Cas said. "But there is every possibility we'll be ripped to pieces."

"Speaking of... why aren't they attacking?" Dean asked. 

"They're here to fight each other. We're just distractions," Sam said. "Neither side wants to waste forces on us."

"Then let's make them," Dean replied with a cocky smile.

 

 **Outside of Rawlins, Wyoming**. Gabriel appeared with the sound of wings. 

"Jesse?" he asked. 

"Gabriel. I thought you were dead."

"I was trapped," Gabriel replied. "And I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Jesse said. "You can't stop two armies full of monsters and demons and angels."

"That's no excuse," Gabriel replied. "I said I'd protect your parents, and I failed you."

"Why are you here?" Jesse asked.

"To ask you to stop."

"I can't."

"Yes you can," Gabriel said. "It's never too late. I won't give up on you. Come back with me, and we'll start again."

"You don't understand," Jesse said. 

"I don't understand?" Gabriel repeated, dumfounded. "If anyone understands, it's me. I spent years running away from who and what I was, Jesse. Using my power in all the wrong ways for all the wrong reasons. I had hundreds, thousands of chances to turn back and never did because I told myself every time that it was just too late. I had done too much. And plenty of times I thought that was true, I honestly believed it. But it wasn't. I was just being a coward, avoiding doing the right thing. Believe me when I say that I understand. I'm telling you, it's not too late. But if you go into a battlefield like the one you're next to... Jesse, coming back from that... parts of you will get lost forever."

The sincerity of the archangel's voice resonated with Jesse, but he couldn't just leave. He was the reason that these forces were gathering here and now. 

"I'm a lost cause," Jesse asserted. "You did everything right, but I'm half-demon. The only thing worse than that is being half-human. Easily lured. Easily tempted. Easily broken. You can't fix me, Gabriel, because this is what I am. All I can do is stop what I've started."

"What does that mean? Stop what you started?"

"Sam Winchester jumped into Hell to trap Lucifer," Jesse replied. "I can't do that because that's not what I am. But who I am is close enough."

"You're not making sense."

"You should go home," Jesse replied. "Helping me might've been part of Heaven's plan, but now? You're running again."

"This is important to me. You are important to me. And believe me when I tell you that I don't say things like that, kid. I just don't."

"I know," Jesse replied. "That's how I know you're running." Then he added more sharply, "Sincerity really doesn't suit you. You can't stop me. There's no need for you to die. Go."

Gabriel could feel Jesse's deception; he didn't mean the archangel any harm. But he wasn't lying about his intention to fix something. 

"Why are you here?" Gabriel asked.

"I'm not running anymore."

Suddenly Gabriel was disoriented. He staggered sideways and crashed headlong into someone familiar. 

"Gabriel?" the man said.

"Joshua?" Gabriel asked. "Wait, when did you come to earth?"

"I didn't."

Gabriel realized where he was, the Garden in Heaven. Jesse must've sent him here, back home. 

"Gabriel?" Joshua asked. "Are you all right?"

"I, uh, wasn't expecting to be here so soon," Gabriel replied. "But I guess I'm home now."


	5. Brink

Dean and Sam approached the northern edge of the cemetery, and had they not known better, they would've thought the area was completely clear. 

Sam ducked left, checking east, and Dean checked west. Not a shadow was out of place. 

"Creepy," Dean whispered. "With a side of creepy."

"Nine o'clock," Sam whispered. 

Dean turned and spotted the retreating party: small, fast, and ugly. It was probably an arachne. Dean nodded to Sam and went after it, closing the gap fairly quickly. 

A second arachne appeared from behind a tall headstone, throwing itself into Dean, but Sam was already there, ready with an angel blade, and took off its head. Dean crashed to the ground with the headless corpse, and Sam continued after the first monster, which had set a strong counterattack. Dean rolled towards it and jabbed up with his own angel blade in time to catch the assailant. The younger Winchester slashed down and again, and the arachne shrieked as its head separated from its body.

"That wasn't too bad," Dean remarked as he tossed the body off and stood up. "Let's hope they all go that well."

"Better," Sam replied. 

They continued on, keeping tabs on the general surroundings. 

"Three o'clock," Sam whispered. "Eight o'clock. Six. Seven."

"One o'clock," Dean replied. "Eleven. Four. And Two."

"Not good," Sam said. 

"See that up ahead?" Dean asked. There were two high headstones on either side of a general clearing. It was a strong defendable point, at least in comparison to the open areas between graves. 

"Right, run," Sam said.

They barreled towards the mark as eight bodies rushed toward them. Then four more joined the attack. It happened too fast to see what was coming, but Dean and Sam went back-to-back, ready.

There was no need. None of them had any interest in either Winchester. A ferocious battle erupted around them. Demons collided with various monsters: a vampire, a shifter, a rugaru, and a kelpie. The wailing cries, the roaring, echoed through the hollowness of the graveyard and the town.

Dean pulled Sam forward, around the kelpie trampling its opponent demon. They needed to set up at the Devil's Gate before anyone figured out how to open it without a key.

 

Kull sent additional forces to the outlying area around the cemetery. The Devil's Gate was demon-proof until about seven years ago, when old yellow-eyes managed to rip through somehow. 

"We need a strike to this area," he explained to his novice Leviathan. "The Gate has to be completely caved in, you understand? No holes of any kind."

"Yes, sir."

"Take everyone that you need. I mean that. Most of the troops can't kill a demon, and I don't want you to waste your time on that. Your mission is to destroy the Gate."

"Yes, sir."

His novice disappeared, taking a small squad of Leviathans along with him. 

Kull didn't have much faith in the lot of them, but they could easily devastate a hodgepodge of demons without auxiliary forces. Once the Devil's Gate was destroyed, they could retreat –

A sharp pain shocked Kull. He sustained the first strike with confusion and the second with resignation. He should've known the cambion was so close, but he'd been too wrapped up in getting Therion to safety to notice. His head fell to the ground, and he looked up at Jesse Turner, armed with a very old sword. 

"I know you're not dead," Jesse said. "But if you go to that battle today, I will kill you. Don't think I can't."

Kull couldn't respond until his head reattached, but no cambion had the power to kill him. Not without a banishing spell to Purgatory or a bone washed in the three bloods of the fallen. He wouldn't let some kid get away with this.

The cambion disappeared.

 

Dean and Sam had cut through the cemetery, which took much longer than they anticipated. Blood, chunks of flesh, bits of ash, and even sulfur coated their clothing. For all the time it took, neither Winchester fought very much. Demons and monsters converged on them, but then slaughtered each other, caking the ground with blood and filling the air with vicious screams. 

They made it to the Gate. Bodies encircled it, piled almost like sandbags, like marking out a danger zone. 

"Looks like Cas made good on his end," Dean said, climbing over the bodies. 

"More than that," Sam added as he followed. 

"Cas?" Dean said to the empty air.

"Cas?" Sam echoed.

Castiel materialized. "With you two here I won't be able to blast away attackers anymore."

"Bad news. You were right, Cas. This place is crawling with...everything," Dean said. "We've gotta assume more are on their way. Any chance the Heavenly asshats might be giving us a hand here?"

"They have sealed themselves," Castiel replied.

"Sorry, what?" Sam said. "What does that mean?"

"When Lucifer walks the earth, the cambion – " Castiel said.

"Jesse," Sam interrupted. "His name is Jesse."

"Yes, Jesse grows strong. Lucifer is weaker now, barely at the strength of an archangel, but in time, Jesse could destroy every angel."

"So Heaven locked up?" Dean asked. "What kind of sense does that make?"

"Jesse's power is over the Earth," Castiel replied. "Not Hell. Not Purgatory. Not Heaven. Every other angel has retreated to Heaven for safety. Even the cupids."

"So it's just you?" Dean asked.

"And Lucifer," Cas replied.

"So we're basically on our own," Dean muttered. "Like always."

Castiel reached out and took Dean's hand in his own. 

"We've got incoming," Sam pointed out. 

They circled up, backs together, as half dozen demons prowled the bodies that Castiel had blasted back.

 

The fight seemed endless. A wave of demons or monsters would rush the Gate. Another wave would intercept them, and the Winchesters would hack and slash at anything that got too close to them.

Sam remembered the last time they were here. Bobby Singer and Ellen Harvelle were with them. This was the last place he saw his father. This was where Dean finally killed Azazel. Sam didn't want to die, but if that was to happen today, this place was quite fitting.

 

Lucifer disappeared with a demonic guard to Rawlins, Wyoming. Paimon followed but then diverted his movement to Tallahassee, Florida.

Blaze was waiting for him, a brilliantly sly smile on her face. Two-dozen demons flanked her, and nearly fifty witches were lined up like soldiers. 

"My Lord Paimon," she announced. "We are ready for you."

Paimon glared at those in her number, his eyes blackened with rage. "Today, Lucifer has gone to battle the cambion and Therion," he announced. "Today, he asked us to become the children of slaughter. To march to our deaths, for the sake of an ancient feud that no longer applies. Every demon here today has come to this world through Purgatory, bound to one of Eve's offspring. There is no other way. Yet we have led a war against another demon for lack of purity. A war that divides our power against the angels and the hunters. So today, we're saying no. Today, we're going back to what we do best: acquiring power. And we start that by leaving Lucifer to his devices. The most loyal of the demons will not listen, so they have taken his arm on this suicide mission. You have one order: you will go to the legions and tell them to stand down. They will not go to the cemetery. They will not engage the cambion or the Winchesters or Therion's forces."

Slowly, demons and witches departed on their new mission, leaving Paimon alone with Blaze.

"And now, my dear, we evolve."

 

Cas and Dean took down a kitsune, and soon swarms of Eer-moonan flooded the cemetery, their quilled heads bobbing up above the headstones. Sam pulled out a machete to work opposite the angel blade, so heavy were the troops.

Then something happened, like a fog rolling in. Dean and Cas didn't move, or they couldn't. Everything around him seemed stuck in the amber, and Sam felt the panic building pressure in his chest. It was like he could think and see and feel, but he couldn't get himself to move. Even his heart didn't seem to be beating. How was he still alive?

He spotted it soon enough. A trio of Leviathan chowed down on demons, their wide mouths revealing their vicious teeth. But they were like everyone else, trapped in the amber. Sam wondered if they could see him, too.

A light leapt up from the earth, like the fog clearing. Maybe the two figures had been there the whole time, or maybe they appeared in the amber at that moment. Sam wasn't sure; the details were deliberately fuzzy. But after a few moments - or whatever one could tally time with without a heartbeat – Sam saw that it was Jesse Turner and another man. Not just a man, though, a vessel – and Sam didn't have to guess who for. 

"I knew you'd come," Lucifer said. "I knew you'd be here. Where else would you go after the tragic death of your parents?"

"You mean their murder," Jesse replied.

"Tragedy. That's what happens on this planet, Jesse. Human beings are flawed, painfully flawed. Eve exploited that by, well, grafting her own creations onto them. That's what most of these pitiful creatures are. But you? You are something else. You have the benefits of humanity with everything that belongs to us. To my children. Do you understand what that means? You're no orphan, Jesse. You've come home. So many people think I'm a demon, but you know better. I'm an angel, Jesse, and you are the child of my children. There is so much I can teach you."

"I want to ask you something," Jesse said calmly.

"Anything."

"Why haven't you asked for forgiveness?" Jesse asked.

"I don't follow."

"You were cast out from Heaven because you wouldn't follow a command – "

"Because I wouldn't bow to humanity," Lucifer corrected. "I saw humanity for what it was – broken – and wouldn't bow."

"Why haven't you asked for forgiveness?" Jesse asked.

Lucifer stared down at the boy that would be the most perfect weapon, but he didn't have an answer for him. 

"You could, you know," Jesse continued. "You could apologize for disobedience."

"I wasn't wrong," Lucifer replied.

"That doesn't matter," Jesse said. "It's not about being right. Someone that loved you – that you loved in return – asked you to obey, and you didn't. You could still ask for forgiveness, but you don't. I want to know why." 

Lucifer didn't answer. He couldn't answer. 

"Is it because you're afraid you won't be forgiven?" Jesse asked. "Or because you don't want to be?"

"You wouldn't understand," Lucifer replied.

"For the Devil, you're a terrible liar," Jesse said. "Whatever your reasons, they embarrass you. All-powerful and dangerous but more broken than anyone else. That's why Gabriel spared you."

"What did you just say?" Lucifer said dangerously.

"Gabriel spared you today, I saw him. I couldn't understand why, after everything you've done. But now I do. You're pitiful. I wouldn't have you as my father, not when I've had a real father who was twice the person you'll ever be. These two humans, the Winchesters, they stand against your pit of despair and your fire and all your power with hope. And so do I."

Lucifer stopped. He was stuck in the amber with everyone else.

 _Sam Winchester._ Sam heard in his head. It was a foreign voice. Not quite Jesse's, but very close.

'Yes?' he thought back.

_I will move you as far as I can, but it might not be enough. Once your feet hit the ground, you'll need to run if you can. You understand?_

Sam thought, 'As soon as we can move, we run. But, what about the Devil's Gate? We came here to defend it.'

_It won't be here in a few seconds. Don't worry about it anymore. When you hit the ground, just run. And run. Okay?_

'Jesse, you don't have to do this,' Sam thought. 'We can help you.'

_Yes I do. This all happened because of me, because I made them all accelerate their plans. All I ask is that you be my witness. If anyone asks what happened here, please tell them._

'I will. But, Jesse - ' 

_Thank you._

 

Sam, Dean, and Castiel landed hard on the pavement somewhere in Rawlins. 

"What the hell just happened?" Dean said. 

"I'll take us back – " Cas began.

"No, we need to run," Sam said. 

"Run? From what exactly?" Dean asked.

The ground shifted, and wind howled over the sound of breaking rock. Dean raced back towards the cemetery to see what was happening. 

"No, Dean!" Sam called, chasing after him. "We need to get away from the – "

They rounded the corner and saw the cemetery roaring with fire and lightning and wind.

"Holy crap," Dean said as waves of monsters and demons tried to escape.

Castiel grabbed them both and tried to teleport, but the explosion radiated out and threw them into the air. Dean crashed first, unconscious, and Sam collapsed not far from him. And just a few yards away from them, a furious inferno collapsed the Devil's Gate and obliterated demons, Leviathan, monsters, and Lucifer alike.

**Author's Note:**

>  **The Story Continues with... 10x00 Brothers of the Road**  
> [Brothers of the Road](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1071612) written as part of [Sastiel Big Bang](http://sastiel-bigbang.livejournal.com/) 2013 and the first episode of [Season 10 Fan Fiction](http://archiveofourown.org/series/64161).


End file.
